


The Lost World

by queenofroses12



Series: Star Trek TOS, Season Four [4]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alien Planet, Artificial Intelligence, Computers, Episode Style, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Illusions, Kidnapped, Mind Manipulation, Missing in Action, Post-War, Psychic Abilities, Screenplay/Script Format, Trapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofroses12/pseuds/queenofroses12
Summary: Leaving a system of planets that have completely destroyed themselves in war, the Enterprise comes across what seems to be a colony world. But they are soon to realize all is not as it seems... And the perils of the wartorn, dying world becomes even more obvious when one of their own is captured.Another of the Season Four script fics. As always, comments welcome and appreciated.
Relationships: James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock, James T. Kirk & Spock
Series: Star Trek TOS, Season Four [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022361
Comments: 22
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

_(Enterprise corridors. Kirk and McCoy, on their way to the Bridge. Of course, McCoy has no real business there, but when has that ever kept him away?)_

**McCoy:** You know, this place is starting to give me the creeps.

_(Kirk glances at him, raising an eyebrow – did he pick up that habit from Spock or the other way round.)_

**Kirk:** The ship?

 **McCoy** ( _scowling – Kirk knows exactly what he means and he knows that):_ The graveyard.

 **Kirk** _(slight sigh – he’s not very comfortable with this either):_ Not the first one we’ve come across. And probably not the last.

 **McCoy** : And why exactly did they make the official term Graveyard? It’s creepy enough already.

 **Kirk:** But accurate. An entire system of planets that have destroyed themselves… Not just one planet, but every single one of the eight…

_(He shakes his head. It is depressing enough, which was part of the reason he had wanted to change the subject when McCoy breached it.)_

**McCoy:** Smart enough to colonize every single planet in their system. But not smart enough to keep from blowing themselves to atoms… _(a slight shudder)_ Even the freaking oceans had boiled away!

 **Kirk** _(shrugs, trying to sound like it doesn’t freak him out too):_ Fusion weapons, Bones. Earth came within one gunshot of this around twenty first century.

 **McCoy** _(grimaces):_ Don’t remind me. When can we get out of here?

 **Kirk:** We are getting out. I’ve ordered a course change to the next star system. _(Hesitates a moment)_ Maybe we’ll find that some folk got out of the graveyard in time…

 **McCoy:** A surviving colony?

 **Kirk:** Could be. Going by the tech in the satellites that are left-

 **McCoy** : The satellites are all that is left. Everything else got bombed into oblivion.

 **Kirk** ( _not responding to the doctor’s interruption):_ Going by the tech in the satellites, they had interstellar travel. They were explorers. Given they were thorough enough to put colonies on every planet of their system, even the ones that looked hopeless for terraforming, won’t be too farfetched to assume they reached beyond.

 **McCoy** _(pessimistic as ever):_ And won’t be too farfetched to assume they blew themselves up there as well.

_(Kirk, younger and more optimistic, ignores him.)_

………………………………………

_(Enterprise Bridge, in the midst of a shift change. Spock is already at the science console. Sulu and Chekov running the usual beginning-of-shift checkups on their consoles. Uhura is at the communications console, but M’Ress is also present. The two communications officers are discussing something, heads close together – apparently inspecting some part of the console that had given trouble during M’Ress’ shift.)_

**Kirk** _(entering the Bridge, with McCoy in tow):_ Anything interesting?

 **Spock :** The system contains only one M-Class planet within the belt of habitation. No artificial satellites present, nor other evidence of sapient species. If there is a sapient species present, they are still in the early stages of societal evolution.

 **McCoy:** And if they have any sense they’d stay right there.

_(Uhura glances at him with a slight smile. The doctor is especially grumpy today, and everyone knows the reason– the Graveyard system they just left has gotten to him pretty badly, even worse than it has for the rest of the crew.)_

**Kirk** _(taking his seat in the command chair.):_ Is it Earth like?

 **Spock :** Atmospheric content, topography and vegetation has a 98.97% of correlation with that of Vulcan. The planetary statistics are nearly identical.

_(McCoy has by now moved over to Spock’s console – as is his habit whenever he is really worried about something, the doctor is looking for a verbal sparring match with his frenemy to take his mind off the matter at hand.)_

**McCoy:** Vulcan? There goes the chance for shore leave. Unless someone fancies a sauna?

_(While this is going on, Chekov is looking increasingly worried. He checks and rechecks the readings on his own console, looks at the science officer, then at his own console again. He looks very nervous and doubtful.)_

**Chekov (** _speaking up, very hesitant):_ Um, Sir?

_(Everyone glances his way, which only makes the young ensign even more nervous. He stops short, uncertain.)_

**Kirk :** Go on, Chekov.

 **Chekov** : Er..My..My console’s readings are…I mean, the planetary statistics are reading different here, sir. Earth like. Almost perfectly earth like, sir. Mean Temperature 57.2 F, surface gravity 9.8, oxygen content 20.95%...

_(Spock looks up, frowning slightly. Looks back at his console, checks the readings again.)_

**Spock:** Either my console or yours is malfunctioning, ensign.

_(Kirk gets up and goes over to the Navigation console, which is also programmed to display all planetary statistics while in orbit. McCoy, meanwhile, moves to take a look at the readings on the Science console. )_

**Chekov** ( _looking like he wishes he was anywhere but here, indicates the console readings):_ Here, sir…

_(McCoy, who is checking the readings, frowns, glances at Spock. The doctor looks very concerned, takes a second look at the readings. Looks at the First Officer again.)_

**McCoy** (It’s _not the usual teasing tone any more. He is genuinely worried.):_ Um, Spock? I’m not an expert at reading this stuff, but… the oxygen content down there is way too high for Vulcan. And this is no arid planet. See the atmospheric humidity levels?

_(Spock is looking puzzled as well, and disturbed. At least, as disturbed as the stoic Vulcan would ever look. He goes to recheck the readings, seems to get the same results as before, looks at McCoy, bemused.)_

**Spock:** What do you mean, Doctor?

_(Kirk is now beside them, checking the science console readings. The captain exchanges a worried glance with McCoy as he sees what is on the screen.)_

**Kirk :** Spock, the readings on your console…They are the same as Chekov stated. See? _(Indicates something on the screen)_ Oxygen content 20.97%...

 **Spock :** That reads as 15. 85%, Captain.

 **McCoy:** Spock, maybe-

 **Spock** : You are stating that the planetary statistics are identical to Terra?

 **Kirk** ( _getting really worried by now, frowning):_ Well, not exactly identical, but almost. Like you said, somewhere around 98.97% correlation. But with Earth. Not Vulcan.

 **Spock** _(quietly):_ But it is…

_(He is frowning, trying to figure out what exactly is wrong – whether it is something wrong with him or with his crewmates.)_

**McCoy:** I think it’d be better if you come with me and-

 **Spock** _(seeming to have suddenly hit upon an idea):_ Just a minute, Doctor.

_(Glances up. Almost everyone on the Bridge is looking somewhat uneasily, concernedly, at him. He looks around the Bridge, spots M’Ress who is still standing by Uhura’s console.)_

**Spock:** Lieutenant M’Ress. Check the console readings and tell us what you see.

_(M’Ress looks startled and confused. She’s not one of the Science or Engineering teams, she has no clue why he is calling her, of all people, to confirm the readings. She looks at Kirk doubtfully. He is just as confused as she is, but nods.)_

**McCoy:** Spock, are you-

 **Spock** _(He really doesn’t have time for the doctor’s interruptions now. Eyes fixed on the console readings.):_ Bear with me a minute, doctor.

_(McCoy begins to say something, but Kirk holds up a hand in a ‘let him be’ gesture and the doctor subsides for the moment.)_

_(M’Ress comes over to the science console. The others move aside to make room for her. She leans over to check the readings. Her confused, worried expression suddenly gives way to surprised bafflement. And alarm.)_

**M’Ress:** Sir, these readings are nothing like Terra or Vulcan!

_(Spock nods. It is clear that he had expected this response. Everyone else looks startled.)_

**Spock:** I assume they are identical to the planetary statistics of your homeworld?

 **M’Ress _(_** _baffled):_ Y..Yes, sir. Like Caitia. Almost to the last particular.

_(Kirk’s expression has changed from worry to excitement. It’s now clear that nothing is wrong with the First Officer. This is yet another weird space phenomena of the sort they are out here to deal with.)_

**Kirk:** I guess if lieutenant Arex was at the Navigation console instead of Chekov, he would have reported the readings as identical to Edoa.

 **Spock:** Probably. It seems that the planet – or some entity on the planet – exerts a psychic influence upon any observer.

 **Kirk:** Make it look like their own home worlds…But not identical enough in every particular, because that would be a definite red flag. The appearance of the perfect shore leave planet or potential colony for any species.

 **McCoy:** So what the hell is it actually like, down there? Some kind of planet shaped flytrap?

 **Kirk:** Almost definitely a lure…the only question is, what exactly is doing the luring. And why.

 **Uhura:** Captain, maybe the other consoles are affected too. If we can’t be sure of any signal coming from the planet..

 **Kirk** _(quickly assessing the situation):_ Call in another shift. We’ve got Andorian, Caitian and Tellarite officers aboard. Find those who are qualified for Bridge duty and have them report ASAP. Every console is to be manned by two officers of different species.

_(A moment’s hesitation, going through the crew manifesto in his head to find out whether they have enough species diversity aboard for that plan to be feasible. Looks satisfied. Yes, they do have enough. For this shift, anyway.)_

**Kirk:** And Uhura, call in some who are from colony planets. Better check whether they would see the same readings as those from Terra or see the statistics of their home worlds.

 **Spock:** That would likely depend on the individual’s identification with their home world, captain. Whether they identify as Terran or as a citizen of their colony planet.

 **McCoy:** Still doesn’t work when it comes to finding out what is down there. if every one see something different…

 **Spock:** The computer itself is unlikely to be susceptible to psychic influences, doctor. We can assign the mainframe computer to directly assess the readings instead of forwarding it to the consoles.

 **Kirk:** Do it.

_(He’s definitely excited to find out what is down there…but all the same, more than a bit worried. If they can’t be sure of anything down there, they can’t be sure whether something down there is targeting them, perhaps more directly than through psychic effects.)_

**McCoy** _(no longer worried about Spock, but now he is worried about all of them. Psychic phenomena always gets the ‘old-fashioned country doctor’s’ hackles up.):_ Jim, maybe we should get out of here. At least till the computer finishes its analysis. I mean, we can’t be sure it’s just messing with the readings. If it can get more direct…or make someone mess with their consoles..

_(Kirk frowns. Yes, McCoy has a point this time.)_

**Kirk:** Get us out of orbit, Sulu _. (Goes to the command chair)_ Put the ship on Yellow Alert.

……………………………………

_(Some time later. The Bridge is now double manned, Yellow Alert in effect. The Bridge officers are of four different species now, every one watching their consoles intently. McCoy is not present, having gone down to the sickbay to prepare for whatever this new weirdness may throw at them.)_

**Spock** _(looking up from the computer):_ The computer has completed its analysis, Captain.

 **Kirk** _(eager, leans forward in the command chair):_ And?

 **Spock:** The planet is L Class, but it seems to have been M Class in the recent past. Perhaps till a century ago. The most probable conjecture is that a planetary catastrophe such as widespread warfare, using fusion weapons, occurred, changing the composition of the ecosystem.

 **Kirk** _(sighs – he has been sort of expecting this, but it most certainly isn’t pleasant to be proven right, this time.):_ War. Again, like the others.

 **Spock:** However, the inhabitants of this planet seem to have ceased hostilities – or at least established a ceasefire – before the situation spiraled completely out of control. There is sapient life present, with clear signs of industrialization.

 **Kirk:** Any correlation with known species?

 **Spock _(_** _taking a closer look at the computer’s report, switching to a different section):_ The analysis concludes that there is a wide variety of sapient species present on the surface, with indications of a common base.

 **Kirk:** A wide variety? A planet generally develops only a single sapient species, sometimes two. But several?

 **Spock:** The highest diversity of sapient species till date have been located on Parmia III, with four different, independently developed species. However, given the extraordinary diversity of sapient species on the planet, the comparatively low population levels of each species, and the evidence of a past history of violent warfare – presumably with fusion and nuclear weapons – support a different hypothesis here.

 **Kirk** _(catching on, his eyes widening in horror at the implications):_ They’re not different species. Only mutations from the same one. whatever they blasted the surface with messed up their DNA so badly that they aren’t even recognizable as the same species anymore.

_(Looks of muted horror all around. Every one present knows that their own planets – yes, even and especially Vulcan – had come very close to such a catastrophe more than once in the past. They all know that, if not for a few key decisions, a few chance encounters, a few noble souls, their own worlds may have been one such orbiting mausoleum)_

**Uhura** _(the computer is feeding an analysis report to her console as well, and her attention had been fixed on it, along with M’Ress. Now she looks up, startled, as she picks up a code she never thought to hear this far out):_ Captain!

_(Attention is now focused on her – everyone present knows that tone. And knows that it means trouble.)_

**Uhura** _(seeing she has Kirk’s undivided attention):_ An SOS signal, sir. From the surface. In Starfleet code.

_(Fade out on the Bridge crew’s surprised, horrified looks)_


	2. Chapter 2

_(Enterprise is now in orbit around the mystery planet. The silver ship looks incongruously bright and alive above the dying world. The planet’s surface is riddled with craters visible even from orbit – unmistakable signs of violent fusion bombarding. The few water sources that can be observed seem covered mostly by some kind of purplish algae, or rife with some other kind of pollution. It is a world wounded almost beyond recovery. However, transparent domes are visible on the surface – habitats into which the few surviving children of this world have fled for shelter.)_

…………………………..

_(Surface of the planet. Interior of one of the domes – it has a tolerable resemblance to some twenty first century city, albeit one that has had a battle fought in it. The buildings include skyscrapers and palatial hotel like buildings – but all of them are badly damaged, either in the initial war or later, lesser battles. Shattered facades, broken roofs, a few shadows darting between the cover provided by heaps of rubble.)_

**Unknown voice** _(the person himself is not seen onscreen):_ Are you sure?

 **Another voice, this one a woman’s** ( _annoyed, curt):_ How the hell can I be sure? _(Her tone changes to something less rough, more hopeful despite herself)_ But it sure looks like…

_(The two shadowy figures are crouched behind a heap of concrete and metal rubble, evidently hiding from something or someone. Together, they glance up towards their object of discussion – the tiny, moving point of light above their heads. USS Enterprise, orbiting the desolate world.)_

……………………………………….

**(Aboard Enterprise. The Briefing Room. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scotty. The usual team present. Evidently, the discussion has been going on for a while.)**

**Kirk:** So you think this…psychic camouflage works only from orbit?

 **Spock:** It seems indicated, Captain. The computer’s analysis – unfortunately the only one we can rely upon at the moment – suggests the presence of an external field of a certain psychic resonance, a mirroring effect so as to speak, located along the planet’s ionosphere. Beneath, on the surface, the shield’s effects would be limited, if at all perceptible.

 **Kirk:** We can’t be sure of that.

 **McCoy:** There are people down there. People calling for help. That much is sure, isn’t it?

 **Spock** : Of course, doctor. What remains to be asserted is whether it is in our power to assist them, or whether any attempt to do so would simply imperil us further.

 **McCoy:** of all the-

 **Kirk** _(interrupting before the doctor can build up steam):_ Do we have any indication as to who is sending the SOS?

_(The question is directed at Uhura)_

**Uhura:** The identification codes correspond to USS Hood.

 **Scotty:** But the Hood is-

 **Uhura:** Almost at the other side of the galaxy right now, but they had been close to this sector when they had to abandon ship in that Metamorph incident.

 **Scotty:** Aye, almost got the whole crew eaten by those yogorroth beasties before they figured out the right frequency to talk to them…

 **Kirk:** But before they managed two way communication, the situation had been dire enough to get the entire crew into shuttlecrafts and escape pods. In the middle of an ion storm.

 **Uhura:** Almost all the crew survived, and responded to the recall signal. Only, one shuttle craft and its dozen occupants never returned.

 **McCoy:** I thought they decided the ion storm smashed up those poor devils?

 **Spock:** No other plausible explanation was found at the time, doctor. However, now we have this unknown variable.

 **Kirk:** If the shuttlecraft had been damaged in the storm and they spotted an Earth like planet close enough to make a landing…

 **Uhura:** Any SOS signals they broadcasted would have been lost thanks to the camouflage. Till we put it direct to the computer analysis.

 **Scotty:** it’s been six months since the Hood lost them. Enough time to figure out the SOS wasn’t getting through. They would’ve tried something- maybe take off in the shuttlecraft to try for Federation space…

 **Kirk:** They could have been injured, held captive, the shuttlecraft damaged… Several reasons.

 **Scotty:** If a landing party goes down, they won’t be able to stay in contact with the ship. There’ll be no way to be sure those aboard is hearing what the landing party is saying.

 **Uhura:** We can rig up the communication channels so that the landing party would be in direct contact with the computer. The mainframe system has enough AI programs running to manage basic help. Say if the team needs an emergency beamup or need a medic or security team to beam down, the system can mediate.

 **Scotty:** That’ll be tricky, lassie…

 **Uhura** : But not too tricky. And the computer can present reports to the bridge at regular intervals so we know what is going on down there.

 **McCoy _(_** _stubbornly returning to the point):_ So are we going down to them or are we not?

 **Kirk** _(with a slight sigh):_ We are.

………………………………………..

_(Planet surface. Inside one of the domed habitats, the same one we saw earlier. The street is deserted. The flickering light of transporter beams appear, resolving into the figures of the landing party. Probably as a precaution to the camouflage phenomena, this time the team is very diverse – in addition to Kirk , Spock and McCoy, there is an Andorian in Science Blue. A Tellarite and a Caitian in red security uniforms. All are wearing lifesupport belts, with the golden forcefields around them.)_

**Kirk** _(taking a swift glance at his surroundings):_ Everyone. Describe what you are seeing.

_(Have to make sure they are all seeing the same thing, ie, no more camouflage effect)_

**McCoy:** Like something from a WWIII movie. Damn, this place is a freaking rubblepile.

 **Spock:** It certainly resembles a warzone. _(Checks the tricorder readings)_ Radiation 3.3 roentgens, high percentage of atmospheric pollutants including carcinogens.

 **Andorian (Lt Theleen):** Traces of biological and chemical weapon use, sir.

 **Kirk:** Life signs?

 **Spock** _(slight frown):_ It is difficult to get accurate readings here, Captain. Something – perhaps the metallic substances in the rubble – is interfering with the tricorders. 

_(It’s basically what you would get if a busy New York street was hit by some kind of weapon that killed every living thing. The roads are almost blocked by rusted hulks of vehicles that were apparently abandoned by the natives when…when whatever happened happened. There are flashes of white within the vehicles that may be skeletons, but the team is not close enough for a more detailed look.)_

_……………………._

_(Some feet away, behind a pile of rubble, someone is watching the Starfleet team, carefully evaluating the threat offered by each.)_

**A rather roughened, broken sounding voice:** That’s them.

………………………..

 **Kirk:** The SOS signal was being broadcasted from these coordinates..

_(Glances at Spock – the Vulcan seems to be intently listening to something.)_

**Kirk:** Spock?

 **Spock** _(looking slightly disturbed, the expression of someone hearing a nails-on-chalkboard sound):_ There are a considerable number of telepathic individuals present, Captain. Untrained, undisciplined, and in most cases mentally unstable, but present, all the same.

 **Kirk:** A telepathic race? Or part of the mutations?

 **Spock** : I have no way to be certain, as of yet.

_(A phaser/some other similar weapon beam lashes out from the window of one of the surrounding buildings, hits a rustheap vehicle right next to McCoy, vaporizing it. The doctor yelps and leaps back, everyone else’s phazers immediately swivel towards the window the shot came from.)_

**Kirk:** Whoever you are-

_(Another beam, from a different window across the street, vaporizing a huge chunk of the road right before his feet, leaving a crater. Other beams shoot out, hitting other vehicles and streetsigns, vaporizing them. the shots are coming from all directions – the team has been surrounded.)_

**McCoy:** At least their aim really sucks…

 **A stranger’s voice:** They are hitting everything they shoot at, Federatti.

_(The newcomer is apparently a native of the planet. Mostly human in appearance, but his skin – especially his face – looks like it’s partially melted. Bald, no eyebrows or even eyelashes. Tall, skeletal thin, armed with a nasty looking weapon that slightly resembles a phaser rifle, which is now aimed at the landing party.)_

**McCoy** _( glances at the medical tricorder he has in hand, low voice):_ Long term radiation exposure. He’s dying.

 **Newcomer:** The first one who moves, dies.

_(He’s speaking in a perfectly calm, matter-of-fact way. It’s not even a threat, just a statement of fact. The Enterprise team, not being idiots, freezes.)_

Kirk: You know we are from the Federation of planets. We can help-

 **Newcomer:** Oh, sure you can, starboy. Those others said the same thing. We don’t want your kinda help. what we do want, we take. And no, keep your hand away from that communicator- I know what that thing does, okay? You can go back to your pretty ship, but not yet.

 **McCoy:** Sir, you’re ill. I am a doctor, and there are-

 **Newcomer:** Hush now. I talk to the chief, old timer _. (A ghastly grin, revealing a toothless, rotting mouth)_ Now, goldshirt, you know how this goes. We’ve got shooters up in every building around here, and all of them got you in their sights. Now, I’m sure one of your little shooters here can take me out in a second, but can’t do anything about those shooters, can ya?

 **Kirk** _(the calm, confident tone of a hostage negotiator):_ Of course. You have the upper hand here, I admit. If you would explain what you want from us-

 **Newcomer:** Oh, so polite! _(Goes off into a fit of laughter, the rifle pointing any which way, much to the landing party’s alarm. Any of them could have taken him out at this point, but as he said, the snipers from the buildings are a completely different business.)_ You a captain, right?

 **Kirk:** Yes. I am Captain James T Kirk, and my ship-

 **Newcomer:** Is in orbit above us, and can blast me and my little dome here to atoms if you lot get ashed. Go right ahead, Cap, see if I care.

_(Indicates the radiation sores on his face and body. This man is dying, and he has got absolutely nothing to lose. Kirk realizes that as well.)_

**Kirk:** Look, Mr…

 **Newcomer** _(laughing):_ Oh, you can call me Hagaer. Not my name, forgot that one a while back, but this’ll do. what’s a name or two between friends, huh, Federatti?

 **Kirk:** Alright. Mr Hagaer. There’s no need for violence. We’re just here to-

 **Hagaer:** Look for the other Federatti, oh we know. Andy told us, same as he told us you were coming down. _(Grins)_ Look for them, find them, kill them, take them away, we don’t care. They already gave their tribute. Now we just want yours.

 **Kirk** _(This is turning into a hostage negotiation after all – but he doesn’t like the tone Hagaer uses for the word ‘tribute.’):_ Tribute?

 **Hagaer** _(points at Spock):_ The telepath comes with us. The rest of you can go get your fool selves killed by someone else, we won’t touch ya.

 **Kirk (** _Nah, this is definitely not the type of bargain they’ll accept):_ I don’t think so, Mr Hagaer.

 **Hagaer** _(shrugs):_ Fine, then. _(Raises his voice)_ Haidee!

_(An energy beam shoots down from one of the windows, hitting the right arm of the Tellarite security officer. The arm glows with a scarlet light for a moment, then seems to just…flake into grey ashes. The unfortunate officer falls to the ground, screaming. McCoy, ignoring the earlier warning, moves as if to go to his side.)_

**Hagaer:** No one moves. 

_(He shoots the ground at the doctor’s feet, blasting open a medium sized crater)_

**McCoy:** That man will-

 **Hagaer:** No, no, he won’t die, not a big strong lad like him. The beam cauterizes, you see. No messy bleeding out. figured we’d give you lot a warning shot, just for fair play’s sake. Now, the next shot goes for the pretty girl’s head _. (Flashes a wide grin at the Andorian, who glares back.)_

 **Kirk:** You won’t-

 **Hagaer:** Oh, I will. Now the pretty girl. Then officer piggy’ll be missing a few more parts. Then the Doc. We can, ya know. And just in case you get any bright ideas about just waiting for your friends up there to get worried and beam you up any chance, gonna give you a deadline. Ten seconds. Choose, goldshirt chief. Ten…Nine..

_(The landing party glances at each other, each – especially Kirk – rapidly calculating the odds…and finding them really not in their favor. They can’t shoot their way out, not with snipers at every window. The man before them is that most dangerous of opponents – one with absolutely nothing to lose. He wouldn’t be influenced by any risk of injury for himself in the potential shootout.)_

**Spock:** Captain.

_(The look which he gives Kirk plainly says ‘Look, both of us know there’s only one way out of this.’)_

**McCoy:** Don’t even say it, hobgoblin! We aren’t gonna leave you to-

 **Hagaer** _(singsong tone as he rapidly counts down):_ Four…Three… Two…

_(Kirk gives Spock an agonized glance. The Vulcan nods. The decision is made.)_

**Kirk:** Alright!

 **McCoy** _(incredulous):_ Jim!

 **Kirk:** We yield, Hagaer. We’ll pay your..tribute.

 **Hagaer** _(with his lunatic smile back in place):_ Just in time, Captain. Now, telepath, just put your weapon right there on the ground, nice and slow. Oh yeah, your communicator too. And that thingummybob… tricorder, eh? Yeah, that too. Then walk towards me, slow and steady. No quick moves. My hand gets a bit itchy on the trigger, you see.

_(Spock obeys wordlessly as the others watch in horror.)_

**McCoy** _(he can’t believe what Kirk just agreed to do):_ Spock…

 **Kirk** _( in a very low voice, not moving his lips, as Spock moves past him):_ We’ll find you.

_(Spock, naturally, gives no hint that he heard the promise. He walks over to join Hagaer on the other end of the street. Hagaer takes aim at his head, a clear warning of ‘Don’t try anything, or else…’)_

**Hagaer:** Now, the rest of you Fedaratti. Stay right here like good little boys and girls for ten minutes more. That done, go where ye please, do what ye please. No questions asked, not here.

_(Hagaer grabs Spock by the upper arm and pulls him along. Spock goes with him without any struggle – if there is a time to struggle, it is not here, with snipers at every broken or charred window. They disappear into one of the alleys. Kirk watches, seething in helpless rage.)_

……………………………………..

_(Enterprise Bridge. Lot of activity around the Communication and Science consoles as the teams try to find some way to get past the planetary camouflage. Scotty is in command, but he has joined the teams at the consoles, and is currently partway under a console, rewiring it.)_

**Computer’s voice:** Reporting.

 **Scotty** _(slides out from under the panel): What… Oh, aye, report, lassie. (adjusts his tone to be more formal)_ Lt Commander Montgomery Scott, in temporary command of the ship. Computer, report.

 **Computer:** Landing party requests urgent beamup of Lt Enutrof, medic team to the transporter room. Request complied with and medic team summoned.

 **Scotty:** Five minutes there and already one down?

_(It’s clear that everyone on the Bridge is thinking the same.)_

**Computer:** Landing party reports that they were ambushed and Commander Spock captured by natives.

 **Scotty:** (Swears)

 **Computer:** Request unclear. Please repeat.

 **Scotty:** Never mind that, lassie. Continue report.

 **Computer:** Captain Kirk has ordered two security contingents to be beamed down, individual team members to be selected by Lt Cmdr Giotto, for a search and rescue mission. Beam down coordinates have been supplied and the system will handle the transport directly.

 **Scotty:** Uhura, notify Giotto. I’ll be in the transporter room in a minute… And computer, scan the planet for Vulcan lifesigns.

 **Computer:** Said scan already demanded by Captain Kirk and complied with. No Vulcan life signs detected.

……………………..

_(Planet surface. The landing party is in a different area – looks like it had once been a metro train station or something. Anyway, lot of open space around, little chance for an ambush to work again. Transporter beams flicker around them as the security officers – around a dozen of them – beam down. McCoy is pacing up and down, impatient to start the search)_

**McCoy:** No life signs. _(He stresses the word ‘life.’)_

 **Kirk** _(worried, but confident that they can set this right):_ That doesn’t mean anything, Bones. Our tricorders didn’t pick up any of the ambushers.

 **McCoy:** The ship’s scanners are way more powerful.

 **Kirk:** And way further away, don’t forget. Not to mention they could have taken him somewhere underground, or something that blocks scan frequencies. They know about Starfleet and our technology, and probably have a lot of infrastructure initially built for their war.

 **McCoy:** All the same-

 **Kirk:** They won’t kill him, Bones. They wanted him alive-

 **McCoy:** If he tried to escape…Or, they may not even need any reason. You saw that man Hagaer, didn’t you? Someone that far gone from radiation poisoning isn’t going to be all there mentally. Who knows what will set him off?

 **Kirk** _(this-discussion-is-over tone):_ We’ll find him. And the Hood’s people.

_(Kirk sounds perfectly sure of himself, but as he turns away from the rest of the team for a moment, his momentarily unshielded expression reveals he is genuinely terrified – there’s no sure way to rescue anyone in time, not in this broken world where even the tricorders can’t trace life. They’re going to have to rely on chance.)_

……………………………..


	3. Chapter 3

_(An underground tunnel. It is mostly dark, but some white fluorescent lights flicker occasionally from the ceiling. Spock is being led at gunpoint down the tunnel, surrounded by a group of people, including Hagaer, and a young woman who is apparently Haidee, the sniper during the ambush. All the natives show signs of genetic abnormalities and/or radiation poisoning. Half of Haidee’s face is covered with a bluish black scar, and her close cropped hair is streaked with white though her gait and figure is that of a woman not past her twenties.)_

**Haidee** : What are you? Andy didn’t say that.

 **Spock:** I am a Vulcan. Would you mind explaining who this Andy you mentioned-

 **Hagaer:** Don’t talk, Haidee. No distractions. You’ll get to ask all you want once we get to the sanctum. _(snorts)_ Not that there’s any point.

 **Spock:** Mr Hagaer, if you-

 **Hagaer:** Shut up, Vulcan, or whatever the hell you are. This thing doesn’t have a stun setting. _(fingers the trigger of his weapon.)_

 **Spock** _(of course not disturbed):_ That is a threat you are unlikely to carry through, Mr Hagaer, since your purpose apparently requires my living presence-

 **Hagaer** _(laughs bitterly):_ My purpose? Lanaer’s, you mean. It’s all the same to me you get killed here or there, and getting killed is all there is, Vulcan. That’s what always happens, not that Lanaer and his bunch of idiots like Haidee here ever gives up. You go in there, you die. Hell, I’ll be doing you a favor if I shoot you right here and now. Cleaner death, any way.

 **Haidee** : Hagaer!

 **Hagaer:** Oh, shut it, Haid. It’s not going to work. It’s never going to work. Toss in as many psychers as you can get, nothing’s gonna change. It’s dead, and Andy’s going crazy, and once Andy goes full on crazy, we all die. Simple as that.

_(Spock stays silent, carefully listening, analyzing. Gathering all information he can about this strange group of captors. The rest of the group doesn’t speak, but they are also paying careful attention to Haidee and Hagaer, who seem to be the leaders here. Deputies, perhaps, of this Lanaer they mentioned. The tunnel they are going down has a lot of twists and turns, several other tunnels branching off right and left. It’s a veritable maze down here. Hagaer’s group is apparently very familiar with the place, but to strangers, it would be impossible to find their way in or out.)_

………………………………………

_(Planet surface. Enterprise team. The security teams have all beamed down, and are ready to begin the search. Kirk is giving them their instructions.)_

**Kirk :…** Our priority is to-

 **Garrovick** _(in a swift move, raising and aiming his phaser at something behind Kirk):_ Sir!

_(It is a man and woman in rather ragged Starfleet uniforms, looking at the landing party as if they can’t quite believe their eyes. Both look sallow, malnourished, ill. It’s only been about half a year since they were lost, but it has already distanced them from the world they once belonged to.)_

**The woman** : Federation? Starfleet?

 **Kirk** _(recovering from the momentary surprise):_ Captain James Kirk of USS Enterprise. I presume you’re of the-

 **The man** _(talking very fast, nervous, not quite daring to believe rescue has come, after all):_ USS Hood. I’m Lt Eichner. This is Nurse Sanchez. We heard that Lanaer had a hunting party out for newcomers, we came as fast as we could, but we didn’t dare hope..It’s been so long..

 **Sanchez:** Please, you need to hurry. I’ve got two patients in critical condition.

 **Kirk** : Of course. If you’ll give us the coordinates-

 **Sanchez** : I wouldn’t trust them to the transporter in their present state, Captain. They’re in really bad shape… DNA breakdown. Something left over from this place’s war…

………………………………

_(Underground. The group of natives have come to a halt before what looks like a dead end, but apparently is not, going by the way they look expectantly at it. the young woman, Haidee, steps forward and places her palm on the center of the wall. A silver blue light emanates from the wall, coating the palm in its glow – scanning, evidently.)_

**Hagaer** _(noticing that Spock is paying close attention to the proceedings):_ No use, psycher. That will na open for the likes of you. and by the time they let you go, you won’t have wits enough to remember whether it opens or not.

_(Spock doesn’t bother to reply. There is a slight hum from behind the wall, like some powerful, but nearly dormant, machinery waking into action. The wall before them spirals open to reveal an airlock, and beyond it, another door.)_

**Haidee** _(stepping in):_ We have him, Lanaer!

……………………………….

_(Planet surface. Kirk, McCoy, a couple of medics/nurses and two security officers – including Garrovick – are following the two Hood officers down what looks like a rubble choked alley. The place is a huge and messy maze, but the pair navigates it with the ease of long practice.)_

**Sanchez** ( _noticing the wary way McCoy glances at the unsteady heaps of junk):_ They’re more stable than they look.

 **Kirk** : You arranged them-

 **Sanchez:** We needed some shelter. This was the best option we had at the time. It’s at the center that we’ve put the HQ. We’ve managed to get some relations going with the natives, but too many of them are… The radiation, and whatever is left from all the chemical warfare… It messes with their minds. Many of them are insane, terminally ill, or both. We try to help, but there’s little that can be done. We just don’t have enough supplies. Finally we had to set up camp here, away from possible attacks. They’re desperate down here, and one good meal is worth more than a dozen lives to many. Some of them still get through, of course, but most steer clear. They’re as scared of us as we are of them, most of the time. Doesn’t make them any less deadly.

 **McCoy:** And why didn’t you, you know, set up the SOS to broadcast from here? I guess that other place was your first camp, but when you shifted-

 **Sanchez:** By the time we shifted to hide here, we had effectively given up, doctor. Of the fifteen of us who landed, there are only six left, and we didn’t expect to last long. We assumed either the broadcasting equipment was not working, or that damn psychic field or whatever it is was blocking it. After Commander Prabhakar died, and we had to give up on Olive… _(she shakes her head, wincing at the memory)_ Setting up the signal here would have felt too much like fooling ourselves there was still hope.

_(She holds out a hand in the universal ‘stop’ gesture.)_

**Sanchez:** Forcefield.

_(She moves to one of the piles of rubble next to them, an area dirtier than the rest, and wipes away some of the grime – revealing a tiny panel fitted with number keys. She swiftly taps out the password, then steps through the place the forcefield had been, a moment ago.)_

**Sanchez:** They’re here!

………………………………

_(Underground. Now Spock and his captors are within a huge room that looks part museum, part hippie hangout, part a computer laden twenty first century war room. There are several people present – a crowd, all sporting different, and apparently debilitating, disfigurements sustained either due to radiation poisoning, some kind of disease, or untreated battle wounds. They have all lined themselves along the walls, facing a central chair – a chair in which a grey haired man with brilliantly blue eyes is seated, glancing coldly over the new arrivals.)_

**Haidee:** Lanaer, we’ve brought him.

 **Hagaer** _(under his breath, but the tone is full of bitterness):_ For all the good it’d do.

 **Lanaer** _(smiles amiably enough):_ Welcome, Federratti. Not quite the style of apartments you are used to, I’ll warrant, but comfortable enough. enough for us, at any rate.

 **Spock** _(polite as ever):_ I thank you, though I would have preferred meeting under different circumstances. Mr Lanaer, I presume?

 **Lanaer:** Aye, Federatti. And your name, then? We need something to call you. Name and rank, then.

 **Spock:** I am Commander Spock of USS Enterprise. Your people seem to be familiar enough with Starfleet and starships to recognize-

 **Lanaer:** Not exactly familiar. The first lot of Federatti we got said a bit. As for the rest, Andy keeps us well informed on where to go and what to do, but little further.

 **Spock:** I have heard this ‘Andy’ alluded to several times since my capture. Is he your leader?

_(Some of the group gathered laugh. Lanaer does not. He is holding a weapon like the one Hagaer has – but a little bigger and newer looking – in one hand, in a deceptively careless manner. He casually aims it at one of the loudest laughers and pulls the trigger. The target screams and leaps out of the way, barely in time. The laughter dies down. There is no indication that this is an out-of-the-ordinary incident.)_

**Lanaer** _(bitterly):_ Leader? Aye, he makes us dance to his tune often enough… _(Trails off, then comes to himself to smile charmingly at Spock)_ Ah, now, as I have been polite enough to answer your question, only fair you answer mine, eh?

 **Spock:** I will try to answer, to the best of my ability.

 **Lanaer** _(smiles again – there is a peculiar, unhinged quality about this man, not withstanding his outward politeness):_ Ah, good. We understand each other. First of all, what are you – Vulcan, Romulan, something else? Andy said even he got those two mixed up oftentimes.

 **Spock:** I am Vulcan

 **Lanaer:** Good, good. It’s Vulcans who are all psychers – all telepaths. And now, would that be a lifesupport belt that you’re wearing?

 **Spock:** Yes.

 **Lanaer:** Take that off. Don’t worry, the air down here’s safe enough. for a while, anyway.

_(Spock hesitates for a moment. The weapon’s barrel swivels towards him. Deciding not to push his luck, he complies.)_

**Lanaer** : Hagaer, hand it to me, will ya?

_(Hagaer gingerly takes the belt from Spock’s hands, and brings it to Lanaer who carefully examines it.)_

**Lanaer** _(still looking at the belt and its mechanisms):_ Now, Federratti blueshirts are science guys or healers, ain’t they? Which one are you?

 **Spock:** I am a scientist.

 **Lanaer** : Good at it?

 **Spock** : Reasonably.

_(Lanaer looks up from the belt, and for the first time since this meeting began, looks the Vulcan in the eyes.)_

**Lanaer** : You will save us. _(It’s a command, not a request. Do or die.)_

…………………………….

_(Planet surface. The Hood crew’s hideout. It’s built from salvaged parts of the shuttle, a bit of the planet’s machinery, who knows what else. Got a hodgepodge look about it, but it serves the purpose. The Enterprise medics are moving through the place – almost all of the Hood crew have sustained some kind of injury or disease. McCoy is kneeling by one of the worst cases – a skeletal thin man uttering harsh choked cries which are the closest he can come to screaming. Kirk stands off to one side with Lt Eichner.)_

**Eichner:** Yeah, it was that ion storm…We’d never have made it far. Then the shuttle spotted this Class M planet… _(sighs)_ At first we thought it was just that the storm had screwed up our instruments. It happens, you know. Not often, but it happens…

 **Kirk:** Not this time.

 **Eichner:** Yeah… We figured it out. some sort of camouflage. Andy’s way of luring ships down.

 **Kirk:** Andy?

 **Eichner:** It’s actually ND. The ND- 37. One of the master computers down there. Not the Provider, of course, but one of its subsystems.

 **Kirk:** The Provider is-

 **Eichner:** The actual master computer. The one that’s supposed to be running the whole show. But it’s been breaking down for a long while, so the ND 37 is trying to run the show. Not very successfully, I must add. It just doesn’t have the processing power to handle everything, and now it is breaking down, too.

 **Kirk:** And it is luring down ships because…

 **Eichner:** Who knows? Maybe to capture telepaths, maybe that’s a side effect. Heaven knows what the camouflage field was supposed to do to in the beginning. If it existed then, that is. We sent ensign Kinde and Lieutenant Fredericks to one of the surface terminals- try whether they could get the computer network functioning again, sent a subspace message _.. (He shakes his head)_ There’s simply no way to input any command. It wouldn’t accept any. Maybe your teams will have better luck, but if there are functioning consoles, they’re underground.

 **Kirk:** Didn’t you try to get to them?

 **Eichner:** In the first month or two, we tried regularly. No use. After we lost two officers down there and couldn’t get enough of their bodies back to tell which was which, we gave up. Settled for trying to survive as long as we could.

……………….

 **McCoy** _(having just finished attending to one of the patients):_ There. that should hold him. Long enough to get him aboard, anyway. We can do a full body transfusion once he’s in the sickbay.

 **Sanchez:** You’ll be accompanying them?

 **McCoy** _(shakes his head):_ No. there’ll be medic teams ready in the transporter room. Dr M’Benga will be handling the cases.

 **Sanchez** : And you’re going to stay to search for your friend?

 **McCoy** _(with Spock out of earshot, he doesn’t have a problem using the term ‘friend’ for his frenemy):_ Yeah. ( _Looks at Sanchez)_ If you have any idea where they’ve taken him…

 **Sanchez** _(sighs):_ We told your captain already. Underground. That’s all we know. Heaven knows, we tried hard enough to find out when _… (Breaks off, shaking her head)_

_(A young woman in science blues wander towards them – she looks completely dazed, blank faced. Little, if any, awareness in her eyes. she doesn’t seem to have any destination, just drifting around.)_

**Sanchez** ( _noticing the girl):_ Olive, I told you to stay with Steve.

_(She speaks in the tone of someone addressing a very young child. The girl looks up and gives her a puzzled glance, as if not sure who or where she was, forget what Sanchez is talking about.)_

**Olive** _(uncertain, halting tone):_ Lil?

Sanchez _(places an arm around the girl and gently steers her away from the patients):_ No, sweetie, I’m Arnie. Lil is…back home.

 **Olive** _(echoing):_ Back home…

_(One of the other Hood crew comes forward and takes Olive from Sanchez. The nurse returns to McCoy’s side. The doctor has been watching it play out with alarm.)_

**McCoy:** Nurse Sanchez, that young woman…

 **Sanchez:** Dr.Olivia Laurenson.

_(McCoy looks horrified – he clearly recognizes the name.)_

**McCoy:** Laurenson? The Olivia Laurenson? The one who discovered the cure for-

_(Sanchez winces, as if the very mention of what that shell of a woman had once been is too much to bear.)_

**Sanchez** ( _curt, pain clear in her tones):_ Yes.

 **McCoy** _(gentle, understanding how painful it is for Sanchez – who probably worked under Laurenson aboard USS Hood – to talk about it, but needing to know.):_ What happened? Brain damage in the crash, or…

 **Sanchez** _(very bitter tone):_ Not in the crash. Heaven knows I wish it was. Physical trauma can be fixed.

 **McCoy** : Then…

 **Sanchez** _(almost spitting out the words in clear rage):_ They took her. Same as they took your friend. Lanaer or whatever that bastard calls himself. his people. Surrounded us. They knew who they wanted, all right. She had the highest ESP scores, was nearly telepathic – once helped us figure out what a bunch of rock creatures wanted. They could tell, somehow. Took her underground, did whatever the hell they do to Espers and telepaths down there. We found her the next day, wandering around…like this.

_(McCoy stares in horror at Olivia Laurenson being lead away by two of her former colleagues, realizing that this may well be the fate that awaits Spock if they don’t find him in time.)_

…………………………………………………….

_(Underground. Lanaer looks at Spock curiously, head tilted a little to one side like a puppy. He is trying to figure out the Vulcan.)_

**Lanaer** _(with a slight smile):_ Now, you’re likely wondering just what we want with you. See? I can read minds too, a bit at a time. Just ask them. (He winks jovially to show that he’s just joking.) We want something simple, you see. Fix the Provider.

 **Spock:** I assume the Provider is the main control system for the habitats.

_(A sudden stirring among the gathered watchers – the newcomer is not supposed to know what they’re talking about, not till Lanaer explains in his own good time.)_

**Lanaer** _(tone still jovial, but his eyes are glinting with rage):_ Looks like Andy didn’t catch you early enough, psycher. How long you lot been down here?

 **Spock** _(his usual matter-of-fact tone, completely unaffected by the obvious rage of the man who’s pointing a deadly weapon at him):_ Approximately three point five three minutes before the ambush-

 **A voice from the gathered group:** He’s lying!

 **Spock** : I assure you I am not.

 **Lanaer:** And you know all about it cause you’re a psycher, eh?

 **Spock:** Not at all. It was not difficult to form certain assumptions.

 **Lanaer:** Such as?

 **Spock** : Habitats such as the ones on the surface are generally controlled and maintained by a central computer network, with high levels of artificial intelligence programmed into it. it is obvious that constant war has weakened your capacity to maintain the systems at the levels of repair demanded by such complex structures. It is also clear that much of the technology currently under use is showing signs of breaking down. It is not difficult to assume that the master system has suffered the same deterioration over the years.

_(Murmurs from the crowd make it clear that the explanation is not unanimously believed. However, Lanaer seems more or less satisfied with it.)_

**Lanaer** : Clever. Good. We can use some cleverness down here.

 **Spock:** If that is the case, this abduction is completely unnecessary. Your culture has achieved interstellar travel in the past. No doubt the requisite technology is still present, even though much of it must have been lost or forgotten. Your culture has suffered considerable damage to the point that it can no longer come under the definition of a growing system.

 **Lanaer** ( _his attention span seems pretty short. He’s getting bored):_ You got a point, Psycher, or just trying to buy time for your friends to get here?

 **Spock:** My point is that here we are not restricted by the Prime Directive. We can assist you. repairs to your central network would be far more efficient and rapid were I allowed to bring in a selected team of cyber specialists-

_(A loud shout of laughter drowns him out. Spock, raising an eyebrow, waits patiently till the mirth has more or less died down)_

**Lanaer** : Psycher! I thought you Vulcans are supposed to be smart! You actually think we’re gonna fall for that? We call in your friends, and they’re going to be nice and polite and just repair what needs to be repaired? You expect us to believe that?

 **Spock:** I assure you-

_(Suddenly, the airlock door they had come through opens again – an unexpected occurrence, obviously, as practically everyone in the room leaps to their feet, various weapons drawn and aimed at the interloper.)_

**Hagaer:** Narath!

_(The old man who has entered is evidently well known to everyone gathered. A few lower their weapons. Others – including Lanaer – keep them sill aimed at the newcomer, but with their fingers not so tight upon the triggers.)_

**Lanaer** _(deceptively soft tone, and a more cultured diction, one which serves as a Red Alert signal to these men and women who have been with him for long years):_ Narath. I assume you have a good reason for interrupting us – even if the reason is that you’ve simply grown tired of hiding in here and want it all over with. If that is the case, I can accommodate it well enough.

_(Narath is nervous, clearly aware that one wrong word, one wrong move, would have Lanaer – or any one of the triggerhappy watchers – opening fire on him. But he is apparently determined to have his say. He steps forward and sinks to his knees before Lanaer – the attitude of a servant before a mighty and temperamental, but well loved monarch.)_

**Narath:** Lord Lanaer. I have a matter of the greatest importance to bring before the council.

 **Haidee** _(she’s even more furious at this interruption than Lanaer is):_ Of greater importance than the capture of a psycher?

 **Narath** _(doesn’t take his eyes off Lanaer. He knows that if he does so, he’s a dead man.):_ Yes, my Lord.

_(Another shudder of whispering goes through the crowd at such blasphemy. Lanaer, however, motions him to continue)_

**Narath:** A captured psycher is a great prize, my lord. But of far greater importance is the report of treachery within our walls.

_(A wild hubbub breaks out, making it impossible to hear whatever Narath said next.)_

……………………………………….

_(Planet surface. The Hood crew’s shelter. All the crew members in need of medical attention have been removed to sickbay. Eichner and Sanchez remain there, with the Enterprise officers..)_

**Kirk:** So it is this secondary computer – Andy – that sends out teams after anyone with ESP. For…

 **Eichner** _(sighs):_ We don’t know. All that we know is anyone who is taken away returns as a shell, with practically no higher cognitive functions. You saw what it did to poor Olive.

 **Sanchez:** They do it to their own, too. From what we’ve been able to piece together, the natives used to be telepathic, with varying degrees of strength. But after the war…or wars… something started killing them off. Maybe just the entire psychic feedback, like happened to Terran telepaths in our wars, or maybe just the effect of all those weapons they used on each other. The ones that left their DNA in rags. Either way, now most of them are non telepathic. There are a few of course, and they are regularly hunted down. But then again, being telepathic, if they survive long enough to reach adolescence, they have a good idea how to stay ahead of the hunters. They aren’t caught as often as outworlders are.

 **Kirk:** Have there been other outworlders? Other ships that landed here?

 **Sanchez:** Several, over time. This has been going on for a couple of decades, at least. Most die soon. Maybe there are a few surviving somewhere, but if there are, we haven’t come across them. Did come across several corpses, though.

 **Eichner:** Since we’ve been here, there was one – a group of Romulan smugglers. We considered making contact, but there was no time. The man you saw – Hagaer – was there the moment they landed. We weren’t close enough to hear what was said, but the Romulans tried to fight their way out. The snipers vaporized all of them – it took less than two minutes.

_(Took out a whole crew of Romulans – smugglers who are likely used to shooting their way out of trouble. Hagaer may be a few screws loose, but his team’s aim has nothing wrong with it.)_

**Kirk:** And they can automatically spot the telepaths. Of any species.

 **Sanchez:** it’s Andy who does the actual detecting. I don’t know how far he can reach, but he’s picture perfect when it comes to pinning down where a team will land, and who is the telepath in it. We hoped you’d be safe, since you’ll be beaming down instead of taking a shuttle like we and the Romulans did, but apparently that bastard can track transporter beams just as well.

 **McCoy:** You’ve been here six months, you must have made some contacts among the natives. What do they say? Do they know what’s done to the native telepaths they manage to catch?

 **Eichner:** With the native telepaths, mostly the ones they catch are kids. Older ones learn to shield themselves from Andy. And if they are caught… _(he shrugs)_ They take them underground. And bring them back destroyed. Same as our people. Only, most of them mercy kills any of their kin in such a state. We…couldn’t bring ourselves to do that to Olive. _(He blinks away tears)_ Though, I guess she’d have preferred death to this…this…

_(He shakes his head despairingly. Sanchez moves closer to him, puts a hand around his waist wordlessly.)_

**Kirk** ( _glances at McCoy questioningly):_ Bones…

 **McCoy** _(grim):_ No. Too much damage to the neural synapses…Plain burnt away, literally. With extensive therapy and cortical implants, she may regain some level of cognitive skills, gain autonomy of a sort. But any return to what she once was… That will always be beyond her power.

_(Kirk’s eyes betray his horror at the fate that befell the former medical genius – and despite all his optimism, he can’t shake off the image of Spock in a state like this.)_

**McCoy** _(his thoughts evidently on the same lines):_ Nothing from the search teams yet, Jim?

 **Kirk:** Nothing.

_(They notice a cloud of some kind of purplish smoke…gas…creeping out of the vents of the habitat. Eichner and Sanchez spot it as well. Eichner dives to a nearby makeshift console and presses a button. A forcefield shimmers into existence between them and the strange cloud.)_

**McCoy:** What the…

 **Sanchez:** Told you, the Provider is malfunctioning pretty badly. Occasionally the atmospheric controls screw up and release something like carbon monoxide or nerve gas or something into the habitats instead of normal air. And sometimes the temperature spikes way up or go way down. Melting – and I mean that literally, I saw it happen to a native a couple of weeks after we landed – or freezing, with no warning at all. That’s what’s killing off most of them that’s left.

 **Eichner:** Some of the savvier ones – including Lanaer’s bunch of sewer rats – have got some sort of filters or forcefields rigged up, same as we do here. Your men’ll be fine. They’ve all got lifesupport belts on, don’t they?

 **Kirk** : Do these mistakes…happen often?

 **Sanchez** ( _with a shrug):_ Once or twice a week. Sometimes more often.


	4. Chapter 4

_(Underground. Everyone staring at Narath with mixed awe and horror. Narath is still kneeling, eyes fixed on Lanaer.)_

**Lanaer** _(practically hissing the word):_ Treason?

_(The whispering has died down. None of the crowd dares to move, dreading the accusation that may spring from the kneeling man’s lips.)_

**Narath** : Hagaer and Lavaenia.

_(Hagaer lets out a half choked snarl. A woman in the crowd turns to run, but is grabbed roughly by the nearest and thrust into the center of the ring, along with Hagaer.)_

**Narath** _(continuing under Lanaer’s interrogating glare):_ Their son, my lord. Young Alovin. He’s a psycher. They’ve been hiding it this long while.

 **Lavaenia:** That’s a filthy lie!

_(Lanaer’s weapon swivel towards her. She gets the point and quiets down rapidly. Several people in the crowd have by now laid hold of a boy of fourteen or fifteen – he hasn’t been alive long enough for constant exposure to scar his face with radiation, though one of his arms is withered, shriveled up.)_

**Lanaer:** And Friend Narath, you claim this because…

 **Narath:** Not I alone, lord Lanaer. Others too bear witness. I’m delegated to bear word. The boy’s been seen answering questions not put to him in words. He has a way with the animals – even the sewer rats that creep in. I’ve seen them do his bidding. When little Helovin went missing, it was he who found him where no one had reason to look. The boy sees far, Laenar. And they hid the gift from us, knowing full well how badly we needed it.

 **Lavaenia:** That doesn’t mean anything! He’s just good at guessing things, he’s a smart lad, that’s all! Andy would’ve picked him out long ago if he were-

 **Narath:** Not if you trained him to hide it.

 **Lavaenia** : Are you now saying we’re psychers too? Is that it? You think we could’ve trained him to hide from Andy’s sight?

 **Narath:** Enough, woman. It’s known. I’ve seen you there, on the surface, you and the boy. Seen you with the surface psychers.

_(Narath looks up at Laenar, confident now.)_

**Narath** : That’s what took me so long, to find out who’s teaching the boy. She took them food and meds, they taught the little brat to hide from Andy. She’s in league with them! And so is he! _(points at Hagaer, who has been standing silent, resigned – unlike Lavaenia, Hagaer has made no attempt to deny the accusations. Maybe he feels that there is no point anymore, that they are doomed whether they speak or not.)_ He told her the ways to the surface, the ways to avoid the patrols! Told her where to find the surface people!

 **Lanaer** ( _his face is eerily calm, but it’s clear that he’s beyond furious):_ In league with the surface people. In league with psychers.

 **Lavaenia** _(falling back on the old defense):_ He’s lying.

_(Even she knows that there’s no way anyone present will believe it. She glances helplessly at the terrified boy and at Hagaer’s gaunt face. )_

**Haidee:** Ask the psycher.

_(Everyone looks at her. Lanaer, annoyed at the interruption to the proceedings, frowns)_

**Haidee** _(indicating Spock):_ Ask this one. Psychers can find other psychers. Even if the surface people taught the boy to hide from Andy, they can’t have taught him to hide from an alien psycher.

_(Haidee glances at Hagaer – it’s clear that she’s hoping her companion is innocent of treachery. And treachery it is, to hide a potential rescuer from them. a betrayal to everything she has believed in.)_

**Lanaer** _(pauses a moment to contemplate the suggestion):_ Perhaps…

 **Haidee:** They can’t lie. That’s what’s said of Vulcans. They can’t lie.

 **Lanaer** _(slight smile):_ So, psycher. Looks like your first service to us won’t be quite as spectacular as hoped for. Hope you don’t mind. _(points at the trembling Alovin)_ Is he a psycher? The boy. Speak true.

Spock _(no trace of hesitation – Vulcans may prefer not to lie, but when they actually choose to, they do it with the same efficiency they apply to everything else):_ No, lord Lanaer.

_(Haidee looks relieved, Lavaenia relieved and surprised, Alovin so surprised that he barely dares to hope. The audience looks restless, annoyed. Lanaer frowns, trying to think it through.)_

**Narath** : He’s lying! Just look at the lad’s face!

_(Alovin certainly looks scared half out of his wits, not to mention guilty as hell.)_

**Lavaenia** _(jumping at the unexpected hope):_ And why would he lie for us? If another psycher’s thrown in before him, all the better chance he has!

_(Lanaer looks uncertain. Hagaer still hasn’t said anything, merely watching the proceedings mutely)_

**Narath** : And how would he know? (apparently struck by a sudden inspiration) They’re touch telepaths! I’ve been talking to Andy. Vulcans’re touch telepaths! He couldn’t have told whether the boy was a psycher or not, not from a distance!

 **Spock** : Mr Narath, I-

_(But whatever he’s trying to say is drowned out in the enraged roar of the crowd – they’ve been told of two attempts at treachery and trickery. Both involving psychers. Lanaer rounds on Hagaer.)_

**Lanaer** _(weapon pointed between Hagaer’s eyes):_ You hid a psycher.

 **Lavaenia** : My boy’s not-

 **Hagaer** _(furious at himself and everything else):_ Oh, shut up, Lavaen. It’s over. They got us, and that’s all there’s to it. we bought the boy a couple of years, and that’s all we could ever’ve bought.

_(Gasps and murmurs from the crowd – though everyone had apparently been convinced of the couple’s treachery, no one has been expecting an actual confession. Haidee in particular looks stricken – she hadn’t till that moment believed Hagaer’s guilt. Lavaenia maybe, but not Hagaer. Even Lanaer looks wrongfooted for a moment. He had been expecting denials and explanations, but Hagaer is evidently past caring.)_

**Haidee** : _(shocked and indignant):_ How could you? Hagaer! Lavaenia! How could you do it? You.. You just… _(Her horror at this treachery is so much that she is lost for words)_

 **Hagaer** _(the words bursting from him, aware that there’s no point in concealment any more_ ): We could do it because we loved him! Because our boy deserves better than to be sucked brainless by that blasted thing you call the Provider. The Provider! _(tone of compete contempt)_ Provider’s corpse! It’s dead! Gone! No matter how many you throw in, it’s never gonna wake!

_(The jeers and catcalls from the audience increases – this is complete blasphemy. Worse than blasphemy. Lanaer evidently can’t believe his trusted deputy has thus betrayed him – his eyes glint with madness as every word takes him closer to the edge, an edge he certainly was not far from even before the trial began.)_

………………………………………..

_(Surface. The Enterprise officers, accompanied by Sanchez, are inside one of the more impressive looking buildings, before a steel vault. Sanchez is typing something on the password keypad next to the vault door.)_

**Sanchez** : Sometimes this one works.

 **Kirk** : What’s the password?

 **Sanchez** _(shrugs):_ Nothing. Everything here’s breaking down, security being no exception. Any password memory that was there has been erased. If you type at it long enough – five minutes was the longest we had to – it’ll open. Sometimes. And if it doesn’t open in five minutes, it won’t open that day or the next.

 **McCoy** : How-

 **Sanchez** : Don’t ask me how it works. Not my specialty.

_(Before anyone can respond, there is a slight click, a series of beeps, and then the vault door swings open.)_

**Sanchez** _(relieved):_ Well, this time it worked.

 **McCoy** : Will it work when it’s time to get back out?

 **Sanchez:** We needn’t close the vault door till the search teams come back.

_(Everyone steps into the gigantic vault – this is evidently a safe room built by the elite of the place, a space to hide when the wars they initiated spirals out of control. Sanchez moves to the wall, feels around as if searching for some indentation, finds it. the back wall of the vault slides open, revealing a tunnel.)_

**Sanchez:** This is one of the ways in. the one we used the most, anyway. (she sighs) But I don’t think it’s going to do much good, captain. It’s a maze down there, crossing and intercrossing tunnels and subtunnels. Without working tricorders, there’s no way you can find where they took your officer.

 **Kirk** : We’ve faced worse odds before.

 **Sanchez:** Yes… So have we. And once I’d have been right at your side going down that tunnel. We’d all have been. _(she lets out a laugh that sounds more like a sob)_ Not anymore, though. This place… It drains you. Not just life. Drains away your courage, hope, everything.

_(Kirk doesn’t know what to say. McCoy steps closer, as if trying to comfort the girl, but she steps away from him.)_

**Sanchez:** I wish you luck, Captain.

 **Kirk** ( _he considers saying something to Sanchez, but knows that at this point words can be of no help. He looks at McCoy):_ Bones, you, Sanchez, Parker and Yalsinov will stay here inside the vault.

 **McCoy** : Here? But Jim-

 **Kirk** : We can’t risk anyone without combat training down there, given what we know of the tunnels and those who live in them. Besides, we’ll be splitting off into teams to send down each subtunnel, so better you stay right here, where any team which needs help will come out.

……………………………..

_(Underground)_

**Hagaer** : it’s of no use! When are you lot gonna learn that? I ain’t gonna throw my boy to it!

 **Haidee** : So you’ll kill all of us to save your boy. He’ll die too, Hagaer! He’ll die like the rest of us, choking or burning or however way it goes when the habitats finally give way, and he’ll die knowing that he could have saved the rest of us, and refused to do so for a few more beastly years!

 **Hagaer** _(lets out a laugh that has more than a trace of hysteria in it):_ Minoae! Minoae!

_(A young man at the back of the crowd stands up – Minoae is apparently his name. His eyes are blank, just like Olivia Laurenson’s. He smiles mindlessly at Hagaer, unable to understand anything of what is happening.)_

**Hagaer** : See him? Any of ye lot remember what he been? Brighter than half ye lot in here put together! Then ye sent him in there, into that damn room, came out half wit, gone, worse than dead! For what? How many? Any kept count? Lanaer? Haidee? Kept count? Kept, kept… _(He’s almost choking with rage, finally pouring out all the anger that has been trapped within so long.)_

 **Lanaer** ( _he’s breathing quickly, beyond furious, finger tightening on the trigger):_ Careful, Hagaer.

 **Hagaer** : You know what I felt about it! Ye lot, all of ye, knew! I ne’er made a secret of it, I ne’er pretended, and ye know it! It’s useless!

 **Haidee _(_** _tone full of icy contempt): And_ you came to this conclusion – that sending in psychers was useless – after you discovered your boy is a psycher. When you discovered you’ll be asked to send him in. very convenient.

 **Lavaenia:** What the hell do you know about it? You aren’t a psycher! No one you care about – if you actually care about anyone – is a psycher. So what is it to you if they keep destroying them, eh?

 **Haidee** : If I were a psycher, I’d have marched straight in! Won’t have needed anyone to drag me in to do my duty! I don’t want the death of an entire world on my conscience!

_(Steps closer to Lavaenia, just inches away from her face)_

**Haidee:** You know what is happening. You know what will happen. Andy can’t help us much longer. We are at the mercy of one dying AI, and one that is going insane. You’ve seen what happens to people on the surface. You know what happened to Xavel last month. You call Alovin a child. Xavel was three years younger when the provider burnt him alive because it thought he was a trespasser. So psychers die, so psychers get driven insane. Fine with me. Perfectly fine. Because even the slightest chance is worth taking when this is the alternative! We’ll toss in a thousand psychers and keep on doing it if there is still a hope that the thousand and oneth psycher may save us!

 **Hagaer:** _(Laughs wildly)_

 **Lanaer** _(he can’t take it anymore – his eyes are completely wild, mad)_ : Enough!

_(Hagaer doesn’t – maybe can’t – stop. Lavaenia is trembling. The boy, Alovin, is evidently too terrified to speak or move. )_

**Spock** : Lord Lanaer, if I may-

 **Lanaer** : Silence!

 **Hagaer:** Oh, why not? You can-

_(Lanaer fires his weapon at Hagaer. Hagaer freezes mid sentence, eyes widening, mouth opening in a silent scream. The energy beam’s caught him in the chest, where the heart would be if the anatomy of this species is close enough to human. It’s the same as happened to the tellarite officer, but now, instead of just the arm, Hagaer’s entire body glows scarlet for a moment, then turns into grey flakes which melt away into nothing. Alovin screams.)_

**_Lanaer_** _(in a tone of deathly calm):_ I said silence.

 **A Voice from the Crowd** : You can’t! You can’t just-

_(Lanaer fires his weapon into the crowd, hitting someone – not the one who actually shouted the denial. Screams and shouts. Someone in the crowd draws a weapon, shooting at Lanaer.)_

**Haidee** ( _alarmed):_ Stop! Everyone! Stop! What are you doing?

_(But the entire assembly is devolving into chaos. These people are victims of long term radiation poisoning, trapped in a dying world, being picked off by the whims of a mad computer – mental health is not exactly stellar. The argument has put the flame to the powder keg, so as to speak, and there is nothing Haidee, and the few remaining stable members can do to salvage the situation. Especially since the leader, Lanaer, seems to have finally cracked, firing indiscriminately right and left into the crowd.)_

**Haidee** ( _desperately trying to infuse some order):_ Lanaer!

_(Lavaenia leaps forward, tackling her. The gathering is now in complete pandemonium, all trace of order gone. Alovin runs from the room.)_

**Narath** : The boy! The boy’s running!

 **Someone in the crowd:** After him! Psycher!

_(A few break away from the fight and take off after the fleeing boy. Those who were holding Spock at gunpoint now darts away to defend themselves or someone else. Unguarded for the moment, Spock takes advantage of the chaos to slip away from the battle, managing to grab a weapon someone has dropped in the melee. The first airlock opens to him, but not the second one. He finds himself in a corridor which slopes slightly downwards)_

…………………………..

_(The Enterprise team down the tunnels – these are far less well maintained than the ones Haegaer and team had taken some hours before. The lifesupport belts are still active, but the forcefield is not glowing anymore– otherwise the auras would give them away in the complete darkness. The original team has split up several times already. This five member team consists of Kirk, Garrovick and three other redshirts – Durga, Krassen and Mallard)_

**Mallard** ( _in the lead, speaking in a very low whisper):_ Trouble ahead.

_(A moment later, everyone can hear what alerted Mallard first – running footsteps down the tunnel. Several pairs, one slightly in the lead. Enraged shouts whose words can’t be clearly distinguished, but the meaning is obvious. The team, already on alert, moves forward as quietly as possible,)_

**A voice** : Psycher!

 **Another** : Get him!

 **Another:** Stop! If you know what’s good for you, you blasted brat!

_(The pursued and the pursuers round the corner – right into the firing line of the Enterprise team. Alovin – he is the one they are chasing – drops to the ground instinctively even before he processes what he is seeing. The others aren’t so quick and the team’s phasers set at stun drops them all in a matter of seconds.)_

**Durga** : It’s one of them…

 **Garrovick** ( _seeing Alovin, who’s looking up from the floor of the tunnel at them):_ It’s a kid!

_(Alovin, clearly terrified, looks up at the newcomers – he’s confused by their appearance. His eyes go slightly unfocussed as he uses his telepathic powers to effectively scan them.)_

……………………………

_(Underground. Spock is running down one of the corridors – a tunnel, basically. Its walls are made of some kind of strange metal with a bit of phosphorescence. He stops, glances around as if trying to get his bearings. Listens intently - he has finally managed to leave behind the mad chaos of Lanaer’s headquarters. Now what? There’s no way to tell which way is out – going back the way he had been taken won’t work, since he’ll have to go past the battlescene again, and this time may not be able to slip past. After a moment, he begins to walk down the corridor – maybe wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and Lanaer’s people, maybe just curious as to what is down these comparatively well preserved tunnels.)_

………………………………………………………

_(The tunnels. Kirk and team are gathered around Alovin. Someone’s got a first aid kit out and is attending to the several scrapes and bruises the boy suffered in his desperate sprint down the tunnels. Alovin watches in awe – and more than a little fear – as the strange instruments make his cuts and bruises heal right before his eyes.)_

**Alovin** ( _finally overcoming his terror enough to speak to these strangers_ ): How… How do you… Is it magic?

 **Kirk:** No. It’s-

 **Alovin** : You’re.. You’re Federratti, aren’t you? Alcraes said Federatti had things like these.

 **Kirk:** Yeah. We come from-

 **Alovin:** Are you looking for him? For the Vulcan psycher?

 **Kirk** ( _nodding, eager):_ Yes, he’s our friend. Do you know where he is? Is he okay?

_(Alovin pauses, nervous. He evidently remembers that Spock tried to protect him, and these people have just rescued him Whatever loyalty he felt towards Lanaer has been overshadowed by his father’s death. He wants to help these people, but he’s afraid. He glances at the unconscious bodies of his pursuers – there may be more coming at any moment)_

**Kirk** _(seeing the boy’s nervousness, easily able to guess the cause):_ We won’t let anyone hurt you. We can keep you safe.

_(Alovin looks clearly doubtful – he can evidently tell Kirk means what he says, but doesn’t believe they can actually protect him. He’s too scared of Lanaer and the others.)_

**Kirk** ( _very gentle tone – he knows that the kid has just had a very bad scare):_ Can you tell us where he is? Please?

_(Alovin meets Kirk’s eyes – maybe getting some of what the young captain is feeling with the ESP. The boy nods abruptly, as if making a decision before he can lose his nerve)_

Alovin: I’ll take you to him.

………………………………..

_(Underground. The Corridor has ended in what looks like a blank wall. The wall itself is unlike the metallic sidewalls, looking almost organic. Composed of some dark, glistening rocklike material, with silvery energy veins running through it. Spock pauses, a slight frown on his face – he seems to be sensing something from it.)_

**Spock** ( _murmured tone):_ Fascinating.

_(He steps closer, apparently concentrating on something beyond. Suddenly, the wall ripples, changes – sort of swirls open to reveal a circular doorway, leading to an inner room. Spock steps through it unhesitatingly.)_

…………………………


	5. Chapter 5

_(The corridor has led down to a huge hall lined with monitors and computer consoles, lot of systems. The walls and floor are a pristine white, almost glowing shade. There are energy veins running through them as well, though not as visible as the ones outside. The lights brighten and ebb beyond the walls, almost pulsing. There is something eerily organic about this place. Some kind of cybernetic organism is what comes to mind.)_

**Spock:** Andy?

_(There’s a slight whirring noise like a very old system starting up. A panel next to Spock lights up, glowing silver.)_

**Andy** _(the computer’s voice is tinged with slight emotion – fear, confusion. It is an AI_.): Positronic Unit ND 37 responding. Repeat request. Interface necessary.

 **Spock:** Unit ND 37, report.

_(He types something on the console, activates something on the panel. The monitors before him lights up, data flashing across the screens in a swift stream. Figures, diagrams, and what is apparently security cam videos of some sort appear on the monitors. Spock watches, taking it all in. He can understand most of it – and whatever it is, it most certainly is nothing good.)_

…………………………………..

_(The tunnels. The enterprise team encounters a group that opens fire on them. it is some of Lanaer’s folk, who have apparently fled the free-for-all down the tunnels. The redshirts and Kirk return fire. Alovin is at the center of the Enterprise team, shielded by the redshirts. The ESPer winces at the proximity of battle and all the emotions involved, but seems to bear up well enough under it.)_

…………………………….

_(Spock, hearing some movement behind him, looks up from the screens. It’s Haidee, apparently having escaped the chaos. She is unarmed, face and hands bearing several cuts and bruises. She has had to fight her way out.)_

**Spock:** Ms Haidee?

_(Haidee looks as if she is considering attacking him, sees that he has managed to obtain a weapon, thinks better of it. She sighs, pulls herself upright. Her expression makes it clear that she expects to be shot.)_

**Haidee:** Alright. You win.

_(She looks at the screens. One of the monitors display what looks like a map of the tunnel systems. Detailed enough to find one’s way out.)_

**Spock:** Are you alright?

_(Haidee chuckles.)_

**Haidee:** What is it to you, Federatti? If you’re planning on trying something else before killing me, better warn you, radiation messed up more than my face. You won’t like what you find.

 **Spock** _(somehow managing not to show his horror at the assumption she has made – and what this implies her life has been like_ ) : I.. I assure you I have no intention of causing you any harm.

_(Haidee looks at him, sees that he does actually mean it, and can’t help laughing.)_

**Haidee:** Federatti. It’s easy to see you don’t belong here. _(Having evidently concluded, with the instincts of one who grew up in a war zone that this stranger poses no danger, she switches her attention to the monitors)_ You got Andy to respond? Most of the time he doesn’t, even when Lanaer sends us – the techies- to try. _(She chuckles drily_ ) Guess wherever you’re from, they teach techies better.

 **Spock:** The central system – the Provider- has been offline for approximately twenty three point seven years. ND 37 – Andy, the secondary system – has been attempting to take on its duties and initiate repair, but it seems as if the resultant overload to the system has caused a cascade failure in it.

 **Haidee:** If you mean Andy’s losing his mind, yeah, we’ve known it for a while. We can’t get through. I’m one of the techies, and not all that bad at it, either. We need psychers for the Provider. It’s always been psychers who operated the Provider, but there just weren’t enough after the war.

 **Spock:** The interface Andy demands is-

 **Haidee** : A psycher’s mind, yes. That’s how it was done, at least according to what is said _. (shrugs, with a trace of despair)_ Who knows. No one is sure, and half of what was said has been long forgotten.

 **Spock** : I surmised as much.

 **Haidee** : Why the hell are you still here, anyhow? I’d have thought you’d be gone long by now. Called your folk up there – they’re still looking, last I checked, and sure seemed like they mean to keep looking a good long while. So why don’t you call them? If you got Andy awake, you can tell him to call them for you. ask them to beam you out, or whatever it is that your folk do.

 **Spock** : The Transporter beams will not be able to penetrate through the shields and the sheetrock above us.

 **Haidee** : Or you’d have run. Those maps aren’t tough to call up.

 **Spock** _(his attention still fixed on the monitors):_ I considered that option.

_(His fingers move rapidly across the keys, calling up more diagrams, schematics and figures.)_

**Haidee** : Are all Federatti as… trusting _(the tone makes it clear she meant a different adjective_ ) as you? How do you know I won’t attack while you’re staring at those numbers?

 **Spock** _(matter-of-factly, not looking away from the screens):_ If you make such an attempt, I can easily incapacitate you, unarmed as you are.

 **Haidee** : I may have a weapon hidden in my boots or something.

 **Spock:** Considering the scene you just left, if you had a weapon – any weapon – it would have been in your hands when you entered this room.

_(Haidee smiles. This is a surreal scene for her, but somehow enjoyable.)_

**Haidee** : So you just decided you’ll let me hang out here with you.

 **Spock:** I may require your assistance.

 **Haidee** _(incredulous):_ You may…

 **Spock** : You have claimed to be a ‘techie’ – I assume you mean someone with an engineering background, and at least some degree of experience in interacting with ND 37, from your many attempts to repair it.

 **Haidee** : And you think you can get the Provider running?

 **Spock** : I will have to make an attempt to, at any rate.

_(Haidee frowns. Spock’s tone is calm and usual, but the years of life down here in the tunnels have sharpened her skill to read people – even those who are alien to her world. She catches the grimness in the tone, a hint of something that is almost fear.)_

**Haidee:** With your techies? You told Lanaer that you can bring down teams to work on it.

 **Spock:** That would be the prudent option, but we lack time.

_(He indicates one of the monitors. Haidee moves forward cautiously to take a look. What she sees there causes her to gasp – the first time she has betrayed fear.)_

**Haidee** : Andy’s going to…

 **Spock:** Some form of self destruct mechanism has been activated. I am not sure what was the catalyst, but it has nearly reached-

 **Haidee** : The end of its countdown. _(Her face is blanched, eyes wide)_ That was set up to be a last measure. When the war was going on. If the enemy conquered the habitats, the self destruct was supposed to make sure they didn’t get to enjoy it. There’s a room down there, filled with canisters of nerve gas. That’s what the self destruct will do. Release all of it to the surface.

_(She rushes to one of the active consoles, types rapidly on it, calling up another set of diagrams and figures.)_

**Haidee** : This place will be okay, there are force fields that’ll activate, seal the control rooms off. If we can get everyone in here.. No, we can’t, there just isn’t enough time… And no way to get them to listen…

 **Spock** : We will have to halt the self destruct.

 **Haidee:** Only the Provider can override Andy’s commands!

 **Spock** : Which is why we will have to activate it.

Haidee (looks at him disbelievingly): You’re going to go in there? After you saw what it did to Minoae…

_(She genuinely can’t understand. These rooms are safe. And the other Federatti – his people- if they are still on the planet, searching for him, would be wearing life support belts and thus in no danger. )_

**Spock:** You claimed that if you were a telepath you would make the attempt willingly.

 **Haidee:** Because it’d be my people in danger! I’m one of them, I’ve got no choice!

 **Spock:** And I’m a Starfleet officer. There’s no choice in my case, either.

………………………………

_(Lanaer’s headquarters. The fight is still going on, with and without weapons. The chaos are so complete that no one at first notices the arrival of the Federation team – at least, not till about a dozen of the fighters drop to the floor, stunned.)_

**Narath** : Federatti!

_(Everyone’s attention turns to this new foe, but it’s too late. The natives drop under phaser shots, except a few who manage to run. Alovin, kept away from the line of fire by two redshirts, is looking around, frantic. He’s evidently looking for Lavaenia, who is nowhere to be seen.)_

…………………………….

_(In the control room. Spock and Haidee are at the consoles. Haidee, in her horror of what is about to happen, is cooperating without question. She still doesn’t trust the Federatti, but there is no other option – she doesn’t know what to do, and the psycher seems to know. As she said before, the least chance is better than none.)_

**Spock:** You will have to remain at the consoles. Once I activate the Provider system, you will be in position to override ND 37’s self destruct orders.

_(Haidee nods. Her expression clearly says ‘If you activate the system.’ All the same, she takes her position at the console.)_

**Spock** : ND-37, activate access corridor to the Provider subsystem

_(One of the walls begin to glow with a silver blue light, seems to melt and swirl open, revealing what looks like a blank room filled with white light – it’s impossible to see what, if anything, is within. Spock winces – he can sense something within, a powerful presence. The Provider system maybe effectively inactive now, but it still has enough latent force to impact any telepathic mind.)_

…………

_(Lanaer’s headquarters. Lanaer is conscious, but far from coherent. Kirk, who had been attempting to question him, steps away – there’s no way to get any sense out of this one. Durga, dealing with Narath, has better luck.)_

**Durga:** He escaped?

 **Narath** _(spitting out the words):_ Must have. Once the shooting started, I didn’t exactly have the time to keep an eye on everyone, did I? _(smirks)_ Won’t do him any good, wandering in there. He’ll just get lost in the tunnels, or get caught by one of the others.

 **Kirk** _(going over to Alovin):_ Alovin, can you find him? Can you sense his mind?

_(Alovin is distracted. He’s naturally focused on finding Lavaenia, at least finding out whether she’s alive or not.)_

**Kirk** : Alovin?

_(Suddenly, Alovin’s eyes widen in shock. He staggers, nearly falling to the ground. Kirk catches him in time, practically holding him up. The boy has gone paper pale.)_

**Kirk:** Alovin, what happened? Are you okay?

 **Alovin** _(eyes wide, half dazed. He’s talking more to himself than to Kirk):_ The Provider.

…………………………………..

_(The inner control room of the Provider system is basically a completely empty chamber, with the same organic looking walls as the one outside. The energy veins running through these walls are somewhat dull, pulsing sluggishly. As Spock steps into the room, the veins glow a little brighter, as if sensing someone’s presence. Spock glances around the room, unsure what is the next step. The chamber walls begin to pulse and writhe, seeming more fleshlike and eerie by the minute.)_

**Spock:** Provider?

_(The writhing walls solidify into a huge black screen. An extrusion appears from the floor, forming itself into a chair before the screen. Clearly an invitation. Spock hesitates for a moment, then steps forward to the chair – the chair looks somewhat like the command seat on the Bridge, with what looks like control switches and connections on the armrests.)_

……………………………

 **Alovin** _(eyes unfocused – he’s only partway in the real world, partway in the astral plane or wherever he goes while using his powers.)_ : The Provider. He’s trying to wake the Provider.

 **Kirk** ( _pale – he knows what that means. Alovin has told them why the telepaths were being captured):_ They got him.

 **Alovin** _(puzzled, bemused expression);_ I… I think it’s…different this time..

 **Kirk** ( _turning away from the dazed boy):_ Narath. Where is the control center – the Provider? Where do you take the telepaths?

…………………………….

_(Control room. Spock is in the command seat. Steel-like wires emerge from the armrests of the chair, slithering across his skin, piercing into his hands. Spock winces a little, but doesn’t make any move to get away. The black screen before him activates, revealing strange patterns, spiraling nebulas, images from the surface, disparate images flashing through the screen at a dizzying pace.)_

**Computer voice:** Interface active.

_(Spock is clearly in pain, his eyes blank – he’s no longer seeing the room he is in.)_

**Computer voice** : Operator, identify yourself.

 **Spock** _(it is an effort for him to speak, his voice hoarse and strained):_ Commander Spock, USS Enterprise.

_(The screen changes to reveal the image of the Enterprise in orbit. Commands flash across the screen too fast to be read, as the system tries to process the presence of an alien telepath. )_

**Computer voice** : Interface accepted.

_(The energy veins in the walls pulse a very bright silver. Spock cries out in pain, then slumps back in the chair, seemingly unconscious. The screen goes blank for a moment, then displays a series of numbers and letters that looks like a series of programming commands.)_

……………………….

_(Outer control room. Haidee is at one of the consoles, keeping an eye on the controls. Her expression makes it clear that she is desperately hoping against hope.)_

**Computer voice:** Self Destruct in progress. Sealing off the command center.

 **Haidee** : Damn it.

_(She types something rapidly on the consoles, but it’s of no use.)_

**Haidee** : Come on!

 **Computer voice** : Deploying force fields.

………………………………

_(Enterprise Bridge. The situation is tense. Everyone keeping an eye on the computer reports, knowing that they can’t trust the sensors, can’t trust what they are seeing.)_

**Chekov** _(nervously, to Sulu):_ How’s this working, anyway? I mean, I know the computer can read the sensor reports correctly, it doesn’t have the sort of mind the psychic field can mess with, but how’s…I mean, can we be sure we’re reading the computer reports correctly? How does this psychic field work?

 **Sulu** _(shakes his head):_ If you want to know how that field works, you’ll have to wait till Mr Spock gets back aboard. Way above my level, Pav.

 **Uhura** _(having overheard the other two):_ The computer reports are okay, Pavel. Whatever’s messing with us, it can’t go through two separate layers.

_(Chekov looks a bit confused. Uhura smiles)_

**Uhura:** When we read the sensors, it’s our brains doing the interpretation. The psychic field down there directly influences that interpretation. But the way we’ve set this up, the computer’s AI mind will be doing the interpretation, adding another layer of defense between our minds and the psychic field.

_(Chekov seems about to ask something else, but just then, the computer’s voice interrupts, delivering another message – this one even more ominous than the last.)_

**Computer:** Enterprise mainframe reporting. The ship is being scanned from the planetary surface. Repeat, the ship is being scanned from the-

 **Scotty** : What level?

 **Computer:** Level five. No hostile activity detected.

 **Scotty:** Not yet, anyway.

………………………………….

_(Underground tunnels. The Enterprise team – apparently having left behind a couple of redshirts to guard Lanaer and his folk – running down the corridor. The corridor that leads to the control center. Suddenly, the walls begin to pulse and glow the way they had done inside the control chamber.)_

**Garrovick:** What-

_(A glowing forcefield begins to emerge from both walls of the tunnel a few feet ahead of them – beginning to seal off the corridor. The team increases their pace, but it’s clear that most of them won’t make it in time. Kirk who is in the lead, with Garrovick just behind him, leaps forward, just managing to slip between the closing forcefields in time. Garrovick, who was less than a second behind, ends up crashing into the force field and is knocked down. The others come to a stop – the force field has effectively sealed them off from the command team.)_

……………………………………… 

_(What looks like the central cortex of the Enterprise computer – banks upon banks of indicator lights, liquid crystal displays, holographic projections, silent circuitry. Quite an impressive sight, by any standards. Spock looks surprised to find himself here.)_

**A new voice** : I considered it appropriate to have this conversation in an environment familiar to you.

_(He turns around to find a young woman next to him. Her skin is pale with a bluish tinge , her eyes a strange shade of violet, hair a metallic grey. Humanoid, but not human. Several subtle differences. It is apparently the natives’ normal appearance before the war and its aftermath damaged their DNA irrevocably. She is beautiful, but her appearance and movements betray a hint of something seriously wrong – it is the look of someone trying to cope with the final stages of a terminal disease.)_

**Spock** : The Provider, I presume.

 **Provider** _(with a slight smile – she’s apparently programmed to present emotions as well. Or maybe just programmed to react the way a normal person of her world would, without necessarily ‘feeling’ anything_ ): Correct.

 **Spock** : I am-

 **Provider** : Commander Spock of USS Enterprise. Spock of Vulcan, of the Schnn T’Ghai clan. (smiles as she notices the slight hint of surprise from the Vulcan) Our minds are one, Commander.

 **Spock** : In that case, I presume you are also aware of ND-37’s self destruct orders.

 **Provider** ( _shrugs):_ Andy’s been..strange, lately. _(her tone is that of a concerned elder sister talking about her delinquent kid brother)_ Working too hard. Then again, that’s partly my fault, but as you can see… _(glances down at herself_ ) I’m not quite myself at the moment.

 **Spock** : I assume your programs suffered degradation over the years.

 **Provider** _(almost defensive now):_ I managed longer than I’ve ever been intended to. But so long, with no operator… ( _she shakes her head_ ) And the other operators they sent, they just didn’t have the least idea… Children, of all things! How did they expect I could interact with them?

 **Spock** : As far as I could tell, the survivors on your planet were unaware of the requirements – that the operator was required to be not only psi capable, but also a cyber specialist.

 **Provider** : I am programmed to submit appropriate metaphoric structures, in tune with the operators’ mental images. Like I did for you now. But the fools they sent in… All the images they had… Tunnels and fighting and screeching ( _exasperated expression)_ My talents at improvisation are great, but scarcely adequate to that task. The ones Andy lured in – from ship crews, I suppose – were a bit better, but not by much. I had to use the imagery of brain surgery with the last one – a doctor of some sort. Then again, she did restore much of my communication codes. I was a lot less coherent then.

 **Spock** : Psi potential is rare in the majority of humanoid species in the galaxy.

 **Provider** : I found out the hard way. Many crews didn’t have even one telepath aboard, all that effort wasted… Forget getting a telepathic cyber specialist, we couldn’t even get a real telepath most of the time.

 _(Spock has already gone to one of the computer consoles – these being familiar models, he finds it easy enough to call up the program codes he needs. Provider notices, nods in a satisfied manner_.)

 **Provider** : I’ll help, but you’ve got to hurry. Andy’s counting down, and even I can’t issue an override after a certain point. _(Adding, almost as an afterthought_ ) And you won’t last very long, anyway.

………………………..

_(Outer control room. Haidee is at one of the consoles, staring at it with a feverish intensity. Kirk enters the room, phaser in hand. Haidee looks up at the noise, freezes. No point attempting to run, even if it was possible under the circumstances.)_

**Haidee:** Federatti

 **Kirk** ( _phaser aimed right at her):_ Yeah. Where is the officer you kidnapped?

_(Haidee’s attention is only partly on Kirk. She’s keeping one eye on the console beside her, with the self destruct counting down to the point of no return.)_

**_Haidee_** _(almost a sigh):_ There. The Provider’s control room.

_(Kirk, who had come in expecting a fight, maybe a group of opponents, is rather wrongfooted to find an unarmed girl, one who is alone and more than a little distracted. He looks at the blank wall which Haidee indicated. The doorway has closed again.)_

**Kirk** : Take me to him.

 **Haidee** : I can’t. Even if I could, won’t do you or him any good.

_(Her eyes are still on the screen. Kirk cautiously moves closer to get a look at what she finds more interesting than an armed enemy targeting her. His eyes widen – the consoles may not be using systems familiar to him, but countdowns are pretty easy to recognize on any system.)_

**Kirk** : What’s going on?

 **Haidee** _(not bothering to look at him):_ Death. Or life. We’ll know in a few seconds.

_(Kirk begins to say something, but before he can get the words out, all the consoles in the room lights up, monitors and screens coming to life. The energy veins in the walls glow a dazzling silver, too bright to look at. Haidee lets out a cry of joy, hardly daring to believe what’s happening.)_

**Kirk** _(he is holding the phaser ready, but there is no enemy to shoot at):_ What-

 **Haidee** : Life! It’s life!

 **ND 37** : Override. System override detected. system override detected. transferring control. Repeat transferring control

_(Haidee’s fingers move with blurring speed across the console. Kirk almost moves to stop her, but some instinct seems to warn him to let things take their course – he doesn’t understand what’s happening here, but he does know that one moment of uninformed interference could bring ruin upon them all.)_

**Provider** : Self destruct sequence aborted. Order Omega 7 aborted.

_(The wall separating the outer and inner control rooms swirl open, as it did before.)_

………………………

_(Enterprise Bridge.)_

**Chekov:** Sair!

_(Scotty looks up, alerted by the ensign’s tone.)_

**Chekov:** The field! The psychic field’s gone!

 **Arex** (t _he Edoan navigator who was sharing the shift with Chekov_ ): The sensor readings are making sense now, sir.

_(Similar reports from every console as all multi species pairs confirm they’re seeing the same readings.)_

…………………………….

_(Inner control room. Kirk rushes in, followed by Haidee who seems much more nervous, uncertain. The huge screen has gone blank again, and Spock is slumped unconscious in the control chair, the lower half of his face covered with blood from a nasty looking nosebleed. He’s so pale that the emerald green of blood is the only color in his face. The wires that had connected his hands to the controls are pulling themselves out of his body and withdrawing into their origin points. Kirk – still keeping a wary eye on Haidee – darts to his side.)_

**Kirk:** Spock!

 **Haidee** : Is he dead?

_(Kirk glares at her. Haidee is unfazed – she’s too ecstatic over the unexpected reprieve, the rescue that she had been fighting and killing for ever since she could remember and now has finally arrived.)_

**Haidee** ( _musing tone):_ He didn’t have to do it. I don’t know why he went in… He could’ve escaped, or just waited for you lot to come get him. I don’t get it.

 **Kirk** _(his tone is almost a snarl):_ Of course you don’t get it…

_(He looks in a helpless rage at the controls, and the points in the armrests where the wires emerged from. Haidee, wanders over the room, eyes wide, taking everything in, trying to make herself believe they have won, after all. That the long, soul killing quest is over at last.)_

**Haidee** _(in an awed whisper_ ); Provider…

_(Kirk glares at her, realizes she’s too lost in wonder to be any real threat – one less thing to worry about. Turns his full attention to his unconscious friend.)_

**Kirk** : Spock? Spock, please…

_(Spock’s eyelids flicker a little. He’s beginning to wake up. Kirk leans closer – the young captain’s expression a mixture of hope and dread. He’s seen what the Provider did to others.)_

**Kirk** : Spock, can you hear me?

_(The Vulcan’s dark eyes open, but they’re blank, unfocussed. Kirk almost recoils in horror, recognizing the same blank look in Olivia Laurenson’s eyes.)_

**Kirk** _(he’s clearly horrified, but speaks in a very calm, gentle tone):_ Spock. It’s me, okay? Jim. You know me, right?

 **Spock** _(his voice is weak, uncertain):_ Jim _… (It takes an interminable moment, but his eyes clear as reason returns.)_ Captain?

_(His voice is steady now – still weak, but steady. As he meets Kirk’s eyes, the captain’s anxiety-drawn face relaxes. It’s Spock – pale and shaken, but not broken the way Provider’s less trained victims were.)_

………………………….

_(The next day – planet surface. Several medical and security personnel present. Field medic tents have been put up. The place now bears even more of a resemblance to a disaster zone, now complete with medics and emergency personnel to help the survivors.)_

**Kirk** ( _wandering over to McCoy – the doctor is tending a young patient with what looks like radiation blisters all over her hands_ ): How is it going?

 **McCoy** _(he looks exhausted – the medical teams have evidently been working round the clock_ ): It’s going to take them a very long while to get back anywhere close to normal. With the Provider back on the job, radiation’s back to normal, but a lot of them has already got near-lethal exposure. And that’s not even mentioning all the infections and injuries.

 **Kirk:** I’ve heard back from Fleet Command.

 **McCoy:** They aren’t squawking about the Prime Directive, are they?

 **Kirk** : Nah. They agreed with our assessment – it’s definitely not a growing culture, and the general tech level is high enough that there won’t be too much of a culture shock. Ships have been sent out with specialist teams. They’ll arrive in a week. Till then we are to remain in orbit and provide what assistance we can.

_(McCoy nods, looking relieved – he had been worried about the Fleet Command’s response. Interpreting the Prime Directive is a pretty tricky business.)_

**McCoy** : Is the hobgoblin already trying to put himself back on duty?

 **Kirk** ( _slight grin):_ Of course. Told him not to even think about it till he gets M’Benga’s okay.

 **McCoy** : That Kid – Alovin – has been asking about him. By the way, they found the kid’s mother. She’d been hiding out somewhere in the tunnels, or maybe looking for the kid.

 **Kirk** : Good to know.


End file.
